Julius Randle has gone from the Knicks’ most hated player to their most loved in a matter of one season. Is it because of Tom Thibodeau? Taking the criticism last year personally? Him adjusting to New York and accepting the pressure that comes along with it?
While we may not have that exact answer, Randle is playing like an All-Star and more importantly raising the level of his teammates’ play. The New York Knicks have played 31 games and are sitting at 15 wins, last year it took them 51 games to get to 15 wins, and Randle is a huge reason why.
Randle has always had the reputation of being a hard worker, and to be fair he did hustle last season but it wasn’t consistent and he played selfishly. Spinning into double teams, turning the ball over, not passing to open shooters, it was frustrating, to say the least. While we still are relatively early on in the 2020-2021 season, he looks like a completely different player and the team is clearly feeding off it.
While you can very easily make a case for every player on the Knicks roster and how Randle is helping them, three players in specific are benefitting the most.
Knicks’ RJ Barrett has made significant progress
RJ Barrett is arguably the player who needed to improve most this season for the Knicks. While his performance last year was not bad by any means and he did absolutely deserve to be on an All-Rookie team, it was not what you hoped for from a number three overall pick.
Barrett going from Duke where he had Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish to pick him up when he needed it, then coming to the Knicks was not going to be an easy task. He needed that someone to help take the load off his shoulders when his shot wasn’t falling.
Barrett is best at attacking the rim and being aggressive, he was never a spot-up shooter, and oftentimes last year you found him watching Randle dribble in circles with no purpose on the perimeter waiting for the ball. As a result, his confidence plummeted and he seemed lost more times than not on the court.
Now that Julius Randle is playing like he is, you can see how it is affecting Barrett’s game. The trust they have in each other has been huge, they seem to always know where each other are on the court and Randle is more willing to give up the ball.
Barrett’s second year has been much better, he is averaging more points, rebounds, assists, and his free throw percentage has greatly improved. While his shooting still needs to be worked on overall, he and Randle look to be developing a strong partnership that the Knicks can build on.
Knicks’ Reggie Bullock has improved as a shooter
Reggie Bullock was brought to New York to be their shooter and hit three-point shots when they needed it. In today’s NBA if you can’t hit the three-ball, you won’t be successful, it is as simple as that.
Very similarly to RJ Barrett, last season, Reggie Bullock was a victim of watching the Julius Randle spin in circles and do nothing show. Although it is expected of Bullock to hang out behind the arc waiting for a catch and shoot opportunity, he never seemed ready last year and part of that was Randle not setting him up great.
Bullock’s three-point shooting was inconsistent in the games that he played. So far this season Julius is understanding when the double team is coming and when to dish it out to a shooter, and that shooter has been Reggie Bullock. While Reggie isn’t the type of player to lead a team in scoring, he is hitting hit shots when the Knicks call on him, which has been huge for their success.
Plenty of NBA players have made a great career for themselves solely on the fact that they hit three-point shots at a high rate, and Reggie Bullock seems to be doing just that becoming a viable starter for Tom Thibodeau. So as long as Julius continues to control the offense and find Bullock open, we should start to expect Reggie to hit his shots.
Knicks: Randle’s Impact on Obi Toppin
Obi Toppin, All-American, recipient of the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year award, and the New York Knicks number eight overall draft pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Toppin certainly had a whole lot of buzz around his name leading up to the draft and had the resume to back it up, all signs were leading to a day one NBA starter.
So when Knick fans heard his name get called we all rejoiced, I was the first one ready to pack up Julius Randle’s bags and ship him out. The thought of Julius Randle being Obi Toppin’s mentor made me sick, surely they cannot play together on the same team. Well, I, along with every Knick fan was wrong about Randle and was wrong about Obi Toppin.
Randle is playing like an All-Star and Toppin is not getting the playtime everyone predicted. However, I truly believe this is a great situation for Toppin — There have been plenty of NBA prospects who never pan out and end up getting bounced out of the league, many of them being the Knicks, sigh. So having Toppin sitting behind an All-Star like Randle is not the worst thing. It will allow Toppin to get adjusted to NBA life and have a mentor to guide him through it.
As long as Julius Randle continues this type of play and the Knicks are winning games, I am all for keeping Toppin as a bench player. If you watch game after game you can slowly start to see Toppin becoming more comfortable and more confident and we can thank Julius Randle for that. I think the most impressive thing about Toppin is his maturity in his situation, you never hear him complain about his minutes and he only has praise for Randle when talking to the media which is a great sign for New York. I think we got a good one here.